Currently there are a number of solutions for interacting with working animals as well as pets. Some of these solutions attempt to use a collar with a tracking device, but these solutions fail to meet the needs of the market because the collar only provides the animal's location.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,543,134 to Lopez et al. discloses an interactive communication and tracking collar. This collar communicates wirelessly over a cellular network and includes a cellular antenna, a means to receive and transmit voice, a GPS tracking unit, lights, and speakers. The collar is designed for attachment to a dog and provides an owner with the ability to track and communicate with their animal. The Lopez device does not provide for any visual devices that could relay a viewed image in a standard, thermal, or infrared format to a user in a remote location away from the animal in real time. Additionally, the Lopez et al. device is based upon cellular technology and does not utilize satellite transmission. The present invention is intended to save lives of missing people and aid and advance working dogs and law enforcement agencies while performing duties capable of saving lives for search and rescue missions, help law enforcement, and pet owners by providing real time imagery in standard, infrared, and thermal views and two-way audio communication to a handler at a remote distance away from an animal.
The present invention provides an advanced pet collar for placement onto an animal for the remote relay of audible and visual information to a user at a remote location in real time. The collar includes three types of cameras (standard, thermographic, infrared), a GPS satellite tracking chip, a means to enable two-way communication, and lights for visibility. In the preferred usage the device is affixed to a working animal and can relay search and rescue information to a remote user in real time via a satellite uplink.